By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations that she said were illegally purged in the last two months in an effort to stop noncitizens from voting.
Fairfax County voters will soon have more options for casting their ballot ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.
The county is set to open 13 more in-person early voting sites tomorrow (Thursday), bringing the total number of sites up to 16. The Fairfax County, Mount Vernon and North County government centers have been available since Sept. 20.
Fairfax County has a new policy that could lead to the prosecution of individuals who were removed from the voter rolls after being identified as possible non-citizens.
The move comes after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a new executive order in August directing the Virginia Department of Elections to update the voter rolls by removing deceased individuals, felons, those deemed mentally incapacitated and non-citizens before the general election on Nov. 5.
By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A coalition of immigrant-rights groups and the League of Women Voters in Virginia has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares of an ongoing “purge” of voter rolls that will disenfranchise legitimate voters.
Early voting for the Nov. 5 general election in Fairfax County kicks off today (Friday) at three polling locations.
Voters will not only be deciding between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump in the presidential race, but also choosing candidates for Congress and, for Herndon residents, the town’s mayor and six council members. Several bond referenda and a proposed amendment to Virginia’s constitution will also be on the ballot.
Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals on Wednesday expressed concerns with the operational performance of the U.S. Postal Service ahead of the 2024 presidential election in Virginia, warning that mail-in ballots may not be processed in time to be counted.
“Election officials depend on the U.S. mail service to deliver ballots to voters and to return ballots to election officials,” Beals told members of the Virginia House of Delegates Privileges and Elections Committee at a meeting in Richmond. “What I am hoping to change is the expectation of voters, that if I put my ballot in the mail five days before election day that it is going to get there. You need to plan further out than that.”
The Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) has endorsed candidates in Herndon’s mayoral and town council races following a caucus that either went smoothly or was deeply flawed, depending on who you ask.
About 94% of the 641 voters who registered for the caucus cast a ballot for mayor, buoying Councilmember Pradip Dhakal with 345 votes over fellow Councilmember Keven LeBlanc’s 261 votes, according to the official results.
Future high school students across the U.S. may find it easier to register to vote, an expansion of access that would be made possible in part by some current students at Marshall High School.
A group of students at the Pimmit Hills school spent the past year advocating for federal legislation that would designate all high schools as voter registration agencies, allowing them to host registration drives and receive reimbursement for the costs.
With no local or state races on the ballot, Fairfax County voters turned out in a trickle today (Tuesday) for relatively low-key primary elections.
In the lone Fairfax County-only race, Rep. Gerry Connolly remains on track for a ninth term representing Virginia’s 11th Congressional District after handily securing the Democratic nomination over challenger Ahsan Nasar.
Early voting in the upcoming Virginia primaries will expand this weekend, with Fairfax County opening additional in-person sites starting this Saturday (June 8).
Voters will determine representatives for Virginia’s 10th and 11th Congressional districts, as well as the Republican who will challenge Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine this fall. Early voting for the June 18 primary began on May 3 and will continue in-person through June 15.
